Pop Up Hide

[Dave_S]

Re: Pop Up Hide

Hooray!!, its bag in the bag (lol).

After ignoring the vague instruction diagram, I applied a bit of pop-up tent logic, and manged to fold it into the necessary concentric rings.

Just have to remember what I did. (lol).

Prior to that I had e-mailed the seller for some guidance.

Had a very nice reply back, explaining the way he does it. He agreed that the enclosed instruction diagrams really aren't at all helpful, but pointed out that he didn't write them. Probably the Chinese manufacturer I guess.

He said that he is going to make a short video, on his method of folding it away, and reckons it takes him only seconds to pack it away.

He is going to send me the link.

So, can I now completely recommend this item?

I most certainly can,

Just need to get out and use it. Ah, wait a minute, that means I would have to get it back in the bag again. (lol).

Dave

[Dave_S]

Re: Pop Up Hide

A bonus attribute!!!

I set the hide up in the garden, a respectable distance from the bird feeders, installed the tripod, 5D3 + 400mmL + 1.4x TC, a stool, and me.

Focused on the Sun Flower seed feeder, a favourite with the Finches, then sat and waited for the first visitors.

The sky got darker and darker, and then down came the rain, a really heavy shower.

I expected to have to grab the camera and make a dash for house, but it wasn't necessary, as both me and the gear remained perfectly dry.

So, the bonus is, the hide is at least shower-proof, but then I guess being made of from the same light-weight Nylon material as the average umbrella, it should be.

All-in-all, well pleased with my £39 purchase.

Dave

[rajjayaraj]

Re: Pop Up Hide

My order will be made soon Dave, thanks for the feedback and i will wait for the video link as well. I wanted one for sometime and not sure which one to go for. Raj

[Dave_S]

Re: Pop Up Hide

There is quite a wide choice Raj, from small one-man hides like this one, to much larger ones that accommodate two people, with full standing head height.

Of course they tend to get heavier, and more expensive (some a couple of hundred pounds or more), and I guess if you are going to take it off to wild and windswept locations, on a regular basis, then its worth going for the best.

For me, I wanted lightweight, easy to deploy, just big enough for my needs, and not a lot of money. This one meets all of those requirements.

Do bear in mind, that this one is a sitting down job only.

Dave

[rajjayaraj]

Re: Pop Up Hide

Thanks Dave, yes i am like you just looking for some light use and garden use mainly, do not mind the sitting only aspect, may be better for my back.

[Dave_S]

Re: Pop Up Hide

First capture from the hide:

Lots of birds on the feeders this morning, so I went out and set up the hide 4m away. Doing this scared all the birds away (lol).

Set the gear up, and and waited. Eventually a lone Blue Tit ventured out, and I mange to grab a couple of shots before he flew off.

I can say that he seemed completely oblivious to the hide, and the lens poking out through the port. So, the hide does seem to do as intended.

The feeder was swinging about in the breeze, so I upped the ISO to 500, giving me 1000th of a sec, at f/6.3.

5D3 + 400 L.

The third picture showing the true FOV, and the others cropped.

[Cyberman]

Re: Pop Up Hide

Nice results, he certainly seems oblivious and happy.

[GORDH]

Re: Pop Up Hide

Good shots Dave, glad you eventually managed to get the hide back in the bag, I'd try putting it closer as they wont even bother after a while Oh just remembered you cant with the 400 L as minimum focusing is around 12 ft but Ive a managed to leave camera on tripod sat on my patio at 4ft till they got used to it and then fired away with a remote, only trouble with doing it that way you get a fair few misses a hide is much better so I may look at getting one... but you'll have to nip up to Halifax to show me how to get the damn thing back in the bag lol

Kind Regards
Gordon

[Dave_S]

Re: Pop Up Hide

Thanks Andy, I reckon that its going to be £39 well spent.

Gordon, you are right, the 400 L won't come in any closer than 3.5m. I did try it, even though it isn't designed to, and as to be expected I couldn't focus.

However, I do of course have the 1.4x TC, which then gives me 560mm, so I'll try that next time.

The nice thing about the 5D3 is that the image resolution leaves plenty of scope for cropping.

Dave

[the black fox]

Re: Pop Up Hide

I have the folding chair hide ,and yes it will take 20 st :-0) my lad has the two man pop up and got his fold down instructions from a u-tube video ,finally to get closer focus with the 400 f5.6 the simple answer is auto extension tubes ,plenty of cheap chinese ones about these days

[Dave_S]

Re: Pop Up Hide

Thanks for that tip Jeff, I'll have a look at the extension tube option.

Here's a couple pictures from this morning, one of the hide setup and in use in the garden (picture taken wth the S120 Compact), and another of a Green Finch peeping around the feeder, taken with the 400L and the 1.4x TC in -line. No cropping on this one, and taken from the same position/distance as the un-cropped one of the Blus Tit above. Adding the 1.4x TC, does give a useful increase in reach.

f/9 at 1/500th, and ISO 1250. Tripod mounted.

Full Res version here:

Green Finch 1 by Dave_S2, on Flickr

Dave